John followed Alexander for what had to be at least a mile in silence. It was eerily quiet, considering not a word was spoken between the two. That and the fact that they couldn't even hear any wildlife in the wooded area, not even a bird. The only sound was their feet hitting the dirt ground, occasionally crunching a leaf. After at least another ten minutes of silence, Alexander finally said: "Do you know how to shoot a gun?"

"Wh-what?" John asked, surprised by the sudden voice.

"Do you know how to shoot a gun?" Alexander repeated, clearly annoyed that he had to ask again.

"Um, I mean, my dad taught me how to hunt, so I can use a rifle."

"Next time, just say yes or no, okay? I don't need to know your life story," he sighed, rolling his eyes. He handed Laurens one of the guns he had taken with him. "Here, take this and try to hit that target over there." When John stared at him blankly, he pointed to a bulls eye painted onto a tree. "That target. Right there. Plain as day."

"Oh, uh, right. Of course." John handled the gun, some kind of shotgun if he was correct, and placed the stock on his shoulder, taking aim. These things were very inaccurate, so he really didn't feel comfortable with this. Alexander stood back, watching as he held his breath to steady his aim before pulling the trigger. Rifles had given him an idea of recoil, but the kickback from the shotgun was more powerful, and it almost knocked him off his feet. However, he maintained his balance and lowered the weapon.

"Alright, let's see if you got lucky," Alexander said before moving towards the tree with four rings around a circle. Well, he hit the target. Barely. "Okay, I want you to try with this one. You should be more used to this, being a hunter." He switched guns with John, handing him a rifle, which he was grateful for. This would be a lot easier.

"Okay." John went back to where he was standing before and took aim again, feeling more comfortable with this gun. He licked off three shots, confidence rising with each trigger pull. Lowering the gun, he and Alexander again moved closer to the tree to see his accuracy. Two of the bullets had struck the center circle, the third one hitting just above it. Laurens couldn't help but smile in having hit the bulls eye. 

He looked at Hamilton, who nodded in approval. "You obviously work better with that. Keep it. You'll need it. Now come on, we're running back to camp." And with that, he took off running back the way they came.

John huffed and put his weapon into the correct position before running after him, not wanting to be left behind. Honestly, he was out of breath before he was even halfway back, but Alexander wasn't slowing his pace. If he stopped, he'd lose the man in under a minute. He'd rather that not happen, considering he had no clue where exactly he was, so he pressed on, pushing himself to keep his pace, keeping his eyes on Hamilton the whole time. They weaved through the trees, running nonstop for about ten minutes before the clearing of Washington's camp came into view. So John slowed his pace to a walk, trying to catch his breath. He hadn't run like that since high school. Plus, with the weight of the rifle holding him down, it only made him put forth more effort. It felt like his lungs were about to explode.

He watched as Alexander ran the short distance as he just gasped for air, slowly walking there. He set the weapon down and went to his car, rummaging through the backseat before pulling out a water bottle. He knew he should probably ration it, especially now that he had to share it with people, so he didn't take that long of a drink, as much as he wanted to down the whole bottle right then and there. He savored the water as it wet his mouth and slid down his throat, glad for the temporary relief, before capping the bottle and putting it back. 

He waited for a little while longer before joining the others, who were talking about none other than himself, though they didn't seem to notice his presence. "He's decent with a gun, but he definitely needs to get into shape. He barely made it back here without collapsing," Alexander was saying.

"We can work on his stamina. But do we know we can actually trust him?" Hercules muttered. "We don't know him or anything about him. He could plan to kill us all in our sleep."

"Just because you have trust issues doesn't mean that everyone is untrustworthy, mon ami. He's useful to us. We don't have a medic yet."

"He hasn't proven himself to me. Therefore, I see no reason to keep him."

"Why not have him check on Margarita? Let him prove his skill," Alexander offered.

"There's another person here?" John asked, raising an eyebrow. They all flinched and turned to face him.

"When did you get over here?" Hercules growled.

"Like, thirty seconds ago." He shrugged. "Where's the other person?"

Alexander hesitated before taking him into a tent, where a girl was lying on the floor, sleeping. Her long brown hair was spread across the floor in all directions. Her faded yellow shirt had obviously seen better days, and her jeans had a tear, but there was a bandage sloppily wrapped around it.

"What her diagnostic?" Laurens asked.

"She went off to find supplies, came back limping just five hours ago, and collapsed. We don't know what got her, but we're keeping a close eye on her, just in case." 

He nodded and knelt down next to Margarita, carefully unwrapping the bloodied bandage. With a wince of sympathy, he stood. "We need to clean the blood off so I can actually identify the bite mark. Is there a source of water nearby? I'd rather not use purified water bottles, as those should be rationed." 

Alexander nodded and ran off, returning minutes later with a decently clean rag and a food container of water. He handed it to John, and he got to work on cleaning the wound, gently scrubbing at her leg. Once relatively clean, he put the rag in the container of now pinkish water and took another look at the wound. "The good news is, it's not a human bite. Looks more canine. Are there wolves or coyotes inhabiting the area?"

"Yeah, I've seen some coyotes," Alexander responded.

"That's all this is, then. It's pretty deep, so it'll need stitches, which I can do pretty easily, and she probably collapsed because of blood loss, but she should be fine if this is treated properly." Laurens stood. "Do you have any needles, threads, and scissors?"

"Um... no, but we can make a quick run to a nearby store for that."

"Alright. Silk thread would be preferred. It'll dissolve right into the skin when it heals, so it's a lot less work for everyone, but any thread should work."

And just hours later, John was cutting the thread on Margarita's leg, sitting back with a sigh. "She should stay off of her leg for a few hours, but after that, just make sure she doesn't do strenuous exercise. No running, climbing, jumping, or anything like that."

"Thanks. And I suppose you've proven yourself to us now. Congratulations."

"Um... thanks?"

"Where are you headed, anyway?"

"What?"

"You said you were trying to get to your family. Where are they?" Alexander did not look happy to have to explain what he meant. Then again, he just never looked very happy. None of them did. But, given the situation, Laurens couldn't blame them for being grim.

"Oh, right. Um, Charleston, South Carolina."

"Alright. We'll move south within the week. I'll go talk to Washington about it." He walked away from Laurens, who stared after him quizzically with a hint of interest. It would certainly be interesting, life with these strangers. He couldn't help but wonder about their history. They all seemed to be close to each other. John knew he wouldn't be able to ever share the bond they obviously had, so he had work to do in befriending them, if he even wanted to do that. He'd gone his whole life with no one to have that kind of friendship with. Still, as Alexander walked away, he found himself thinking that maybe he needed friends in a time like this, where the world was collapsing around him.

~~

Oh my god this chapter sucks. But hey. At least there's a chapter. Sorry it took so long to update. Writers block is a bitch. You'd think with as many stories as I have, it wouldn't be that big a problem, but no. No, it's still really bad. So I don't know medical stuff, guys. But I'll research this stuff for you. Heh. I'll research things like that, but I won't study for a chemistry test. What does that say about me? Oh well. I'm gonna go attempt to update one of my other stories now. Until next time, Mishamigos. 

~MishaIsOurOverlord1